In which we take further inspiration from LEGO® Friends, by looking at Olivia’s Service and Care Truck. We follow up by developing a modification to allow two minifigures to sit side by side in a contemporary vehicle, that otherwise only seats one. Now read on…

Last time, we looked at a couple of Olivia’s vehicles from Friends – from 2016 and 2018. Both of these cars have our friends sharing the two seats in a 4×3 space, allowing them to sit side by side in a vehicle that is six studs wide – within the constrains of a four stud wide cabin (so long as there window are open). Today I would like to look at another of her sets from this year. Who knows how it might inspire us…

Looking out for her Friends on the Track: Service and Care Truck 41348

Zobo takes the Wheel

The Service&Care Truck (41348) which was released in the mid-year wave of friends sets in 2018, and has 244 parts. It seems to fit in a similar part count and price point (AUD29.99/€19.99/£14.99/USD19.99) as Olivia’s Mission Vehicle.

Like this:

As part of the recent Minifigure40 campaign, LEGO have sent out a collection of old print advertisements for a number of themes, from the 1970’s through to the early 2000’s. These advertisements come from a variety of sources, including comic books and magazines from the period. Not all of these were presented in English.

Today I thought we might check out some of the advertisements from the 1980 to 1997. During this time, we have some 4.5V and 12V trains, and ultimately see the introduction of the enduring (and endearing) 9V train system.

Introducing the New 12 Volt Train System

In 1980, we saw the introduction of the new 12 Volt train system: offering electrified central rails, batteries were unnecessary. The system also introduced a system of switches that would allow remote control of points/switches as well as boom gates and trains.

Today we continue our 40th Birthday Exploration of the Minifigure’s journey: We have previously looked at the structural prototyping and moulds used for our minifigures. Today, we will take a special look into the LEGO Factory at Kladno, in the Czech Republic, The LEGO Group have sent The Rambling Brick (and other fan media organisations) some fantastic photos, taken by Jan Branc, as well as a video demonstrating some of the processes that our minifigures go through in the Kladno Factory, located in the Czech Republic.

To paraphrase the late Carl Sagan, To make a minifigure from scratch, you must first create the Universe.

Let’s move a few steps down that path. Recently we took a look at some of the prototypes that were passed over on the path to minifigure development. Once you have a design, you need a way to put it together. Today, let’s take a look at the moulds that are in use.

Mold or Mould?

Over the last few years, I have been struggling with the word used to describe the thing that molten plastic is injected into, where it gains its special shape. Is it a mould or a mold? And which is the spelling that has spores, and was the bane of my bathroom back in my bachelor days?

A quick call out to to the Wikipedia suggested that both spellings would apply to those fungi, depending on where in the world you are standing. (Molds in USA, moulds in the rest of the English speaking world).

But what about the verb meaning to shape/form or the noun referring to the thing used to do the same? It turns out that that is also spelt mold in the USA and mould everywhere else! I am not about to revise every spelling of the world ‘mold’ over the last two and a half years. going forward, however, I will endeavour to use the form of spelling that my computer attempts to direct me towards every time. This dialogue from the Australian Writer’s Centre might shed a little light on the subject.

This awesome brick built mo(u)ld was used while prototyping different minifigure prototypes.

This week, we celebrate the anniversary of the submission of the minifigure design to the Danish Patent office. It was in the following year, 1978, that we got our first glimpse of the LEGO® Minifigure. However, development of an appropriately sized, articulated figure began sometime beforehand…

The LEGO Group have recently released some new picture, showing historically significant developments in the the life of the Minifigures. Many of the items shown here are on display in the LEGO House, in Billund, but some may not be at this time. Continue reading →

Today we celebrate the submission of the patent for the original minifigure design, in Denmark in 1977. So…41 years ago, in order to have things ready to roll in 1978!

To commemorate this event, the LEGO Group has released a collection of images of historical interest, including copies of the original patent documents, images of prototype minifigures, moulds, minifigure design sheets and historical advertising material, as well as a timeline of significant minifigure events.

Over the next few posts, we will explore some of these materials, but first, let’s run the covering press release, and take a glance at the patent applications: Continue reading →

With new Harry Potter LEGO Sets and Collectable Minifigures occupying the Zeitgeist, I look back on ways in which our minifigures have been innovated through their use in this theme over the years.

When we recently looked at the new Harry Potter Collectable Minifigures, we had a look at the new leg elements – the ‘miniskirt’ and mid length legs. These new elements are a great inclusion during this, the fortieth anniversary of LEGO Minifigures. I found myself wondering ‘What other innovations in figure design have we first seen in Harry Potter?’ We have seen so many different characters and creatures since the series first appeared in 2001: house elf, giants, goblins and trolls, as well as humans. To adequately depict these characters as minifigures form, a number of modifications to the standard form were introduced. Some of these we now take for granted.